Warm woolen mittens

And considering that Chris Robb and Kathy Fisher can hardly keep up with demand for their handmade mittens, many warm-handed people agree.

The local women began making mittens out of second-hand wool and fleece material just under two years ago. After seeing a pair of mittens, they figured they could make something similar — for less cost and with better quality.

“We’ve always been arts-and-crafty,” Fisher said.

It took the women two months, and many trials, to create a pattern that they knew was the right fit. Around the same time, they had been teaching Fisher’s toddler grandson to wave and say “bye bye.” He would reply “bye bye you.”

When they had their “eureka” moment for the right pattern, with mittened hands they turned to each other and said “bye bye you.” Thus, the name of the company became Bye Bye U.

They use old shirts, jackets, pants, blankets and other items to make one-of-a-kind mittens and, literally, no two pairs are alike. While a blanket may yield many mitten pieces, changing the fleece liner color and decorations creates distinctly unique mittens.

Each mitten requires two different wool pieces (one each for front and back of the hand), a knit piece for the thumb, a fleece liner, yarn to sew it all together, two buttons and a dozen or so gems. This yields many color and design possibilities.

“They come alive every time you do a different part,” Robb said, noting that the final glitzing, and even the choice of yarn color change the dynamic of the mittens. And they come in nearly every conceivable combination of colors.

“I tell people if you can’t find a pair of mittens here that match your coat, you need a new coat,” Fisher said.

They scour second-hand clothing stores and garage sales all over the region looking for unique fabric to make into mittens. They’ve also received donations of fabrics and clothes.

“We know every thrift store from here to Warroad all the way down to Rochester. We know what days they’re open,” Fisher said.

“Of course you want to keep your costs as low as possible,” Robb explained. And their business plan coincided with the recent trend of using recycled materials and “going green.”

Robb and Fisher have recently started making “memory mittens,” whereby they take a customer’s sentimental items of clothing — dad’s old jacket or grandpa’s pants — and turn the fabric into a wearable piece for that person to be remembered.

“It’s really emotional when you’re doing it,” Robb said of washing and cutting what she knows are treasured family keepsakes. “You’re hoping they like them.”

For the regular mittens, Robb and Fisher don’t make one pair at a time. They may cut fabric one day, marry the pieces another day, sew another and add the details at the end. They work in an assembly-line process to get in a rhythm for a particular task.

Fisher works full time, and Robb is a full-time care giver for her mother, so neither are able to shirk their other responsibilities. While they are growing their business, they consider it more of a hobby than a full-time job.

“It’s fun to see people wear the mittens,” Fisher said.

It has been surprising for the women to see how fast the mittens fly off the shelves and how well their business has taken off, with little to no advertising or marketing. Most of their sales have happened through word of mouth. And they’ve been known to sell the mittens right off their own hands when passersby compliment the mittens and want to buy some.

The mittens will be for sale Friday at the Coffee Landing Cafe from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Mittens are also sold at various places around town, including Streiff’s Floral, No Place Like Home and Thunderbird Lodge.

Mittens are $35 per pair. For more information, contact Robb and Fisher at byebyeu@hotmail.com or call 701-212-0088 or 218-285-2977.

If you go:

What: Bye Bye U mitten sale

When: Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: Coffee Landing Cafe, downtown